Building frame structure



Aug. 2, 1966 H. w. DlCKINSON BUILDING FRAME STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 28. 1965 Aug. 2, 1966 H. w. DICKINSON BUILDING FRAME STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 28. 1963 INVENTOR. HAROLD WD/cm/vsmv 8: u 1 l H p 1 AF W United States Patent 3,263,381 BUILDING FRAME STRUCTURE Harold W. Dickinson, Rafters Inc., Olivia, Minn. Filed Oct. 28, 1963, Ser. No. 319,111 Claims. (Cl. 52-90) My invention relates generally to building frame structures and more specifically to prefabricated supporting arches formed from laminated wood or other similar sheet building material.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a prefabricated plywood arch, which may be initially formed in sections which are readily storable and shippable and which may be clamped together in operative relationship on-the-job by one with a minimum of skill and instruction.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a building arch of the type immediately above described which is of equal or even greater strength than the plywood arches heretofore produced.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the class above described which includes a separately formed roof-supporting member and a detachable supporting leg member therefor wherein novel means is provided for forming an interconnecting haunch or joint therebetween which substantially eliminates the tendency of the roof-supporting member to rock or pivot about the upper limits of the supporting leg under load.

The above and still further objects of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed specification, appended claims and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views;

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an arch constructed in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in top plan of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view in side elevation of a portion of FIG. 1, some portions being broken away;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view in vertical section taken on the line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an exploded view in perspective of the haunch or joint section of FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale, some portions thereof being broken away.

Referring with greater particularity to the drawings wherein my novel prefabricated building arch is identified in its entirety by the numeral 10, the arched gable-forming member 11 is formed of two identical, upwardly tapering roof-supporting or gable sections 12, the reduced upwardly inclined inner ends 12a of which are retained in abutting relationship by any suitable means such as bolt-equipped clamping plates 13. Each gable section 12 is made up of a skeletonized frame 14 which includes longitudinally extended upper and lower stringers 15a, 15b respectively and longitudinally spaced interconnecting struts 16. As shown, the stringers 15a, 15b and struts 16 are of multi-ply construction. Rigidly secured to opposite sides of the skeletonized frame 14 and cooperating therewith to provide a substantially enclosed structure are plate-like covers 17 which, preferably for purposes of strength and durability, may be formed from marine plywood.

For a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent, the lower stringer 15b of the gable sections 12 cooperate with the covers 17 to define a pair of downwardly opening passages 18, 19. At this point it might be well to point out that the outermost strut of each of the gable sections 12 is closely spaced to and is generally para lel to the axis of one of the passages 19.

Cooperating with the gable member 11 is a pair of identical supporting leg members 20, only one of which and its cooperative relationship with an outer end of one of said gable sections 12 to define a joint or haunch will hereinafter be described. Leg members 20 likewise include an interior skeletonized frame 211 comprising laterally spaced inner and outer side-forming stringers 22a, 2221 respectively and vertically spaced connecting struts 23. Covering the greater part of the frame 21 of leg 21) are plate-like covers 24, which are identical to plates 17. As shown particularly in FIGS. 3 and 6, the inner and outer stringers 22a, 22b of leg 2% project upwardly from the upper limits of the covers 24 to define exposed upwardly projecting inner and outer leg elements 25a, 25!) respectively. It will be noted that legs 25a, 25b are of transverse dimensions to be snugly slidably received respectively in the passages 19, 13 and that the longitudi nal dimensions of said leg elements 25a, 25b are such that when the extreme upper ends 25c, 25d respectively are in abutting relationship with the undersurface 26 of the upper stringer 15a of cooperating gable section 12, that the upper edges 27 of the covers 24 are in abutting relationship with the lower edges 28 of the covers 17.

It should be obvious from the above described structure that, as weight is supported from the gable or roofsupporting sections 12, there is a tendency for said sections to rock or pivot about the fulcrum point 29. To effectively check or restrict such rocking movements and to create a very strong and rigid haunch or joint, a pair of laterally spaced clamping bolts 30 is caused to pass upwardly through the uppermost strut 31 of the leg member 20, and thence upwardly through the lower and upper stringers 15b, 15a of the gable section 12. It will be noted that clamping bolts 30 are in closely spaced substantially parallel relationship to the outer stringer 22b so as to achieve all the leverage possible. Specifically, the enlarged heads 32 of the bolts 30 are recessed in the undersurface 31a of the strut 31, whereas the screw threaded extreme upper ends of said bolts 30, together with the cooperating clamping nuts 33 are received within a recess 34 so as to not interfere with any overlying structure supported by the gable section 12.

Preferably the clamping bolts 30 are inserted into the strut 31 during fabrication and prior to the covers 24 being placed in operative positions. Consequently it becomes important that the clamping bolts 30 be retained in position against accidental displacement; and, for this purpose, it will be noted that the lower end portions 35 of the shanks 36 of said bolts 30 are angularly offset from the upper end portions 37 of the shank 36. To further facilitate insertion and assembly of the clamping bolts 30 in their operative positions, the extreme outer end of the lower stringer 15b is provided with vertically extended laterally outwardly opening notches or channels 38.

To finally secure together the parts immediately above described, and in order to create a most rigid haunch, auxiliary clamping plates 39 may be caused to overlie the outer end portions of the covers 17 of the gable section 12. It will be noted that these clamping plates 39 and the portions sandwiched therebetween are predrilled for the reception of nut-equipped clamping bolts 40. Plates 39, which may be formed from any suitable material such as plywood, preferably are formed to provide depending skirt portions 41 which overlap the abutting edges 27, 28 of the covers 24, -17 respectively and may be secured to the former by suitable means such as nails 42. Where relatively light weights are to be supported by the gable members 12, the clamping plates 39' may be omitted entirely, in which case the bolts 40 are caused to pass only through the predrilled openings in the covers 17 and parts sandwiched therebetween. On the other hand where extremely heavy loads are to be supported, it

3 may be found necessary or desirable to position metallic angular corner braces 43 over the clamping plates 39 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6.

My invention has been thoroughly tested and found to be completely satisfactory for the accomplishment of the objectives set forth, and while I have shown and described a preferred embodiment, I wish it to be specifically understood that the same is capable of modification without departure from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A prefabricated building support comprising:

(a) a longitudinally extending roof-supporting member,

(b) a leg member detachably securable to one end of said roof-supporting member,

(c) each of said members being formed of multi-ply construction and including skeletonized frame elements and laterally spaced plate-like cover elements,

((1) the frame element of said roof-supporting member including vertically spaced side-forming upper and lower stringers and longitudinally spaced interconnecting struts,

(e) the skeletonized frame of said leg member comprising laterally spaced inner and outer generally upstanding side-forming stringers, and vertically spaced interconnecting struts,

(f) the outer stringer of said leg member projecting upwardly from the upper limits of said leg member cover elements to define an exposed leg element,

(g) the extreme outer end of the lower stringer of said roof-supporting member terminating in inwardly spaced relation to the outer limits of said roof-supporting cover elements and defining a downwardly and laterally outwardly opening passage for reception of said exposed leg element,

(h) the upper end of the inner stringer of said leg member abutting the undersurface of one of the stringers of said roof-supporting member and defining therewith a fulcrum,

(i) the upper end of said exposed leg element engaging the undersurface of the upper stringer of said roof-supporting member,

(j) the uppermost strut of said leg member closely underlying the adjacent portion of the lower stringer of said roof-supporting member, and

(k) means for clamping said leg member to said roofsupporting member, said means including (1) a drawbolt passing upwardly through said uppermost strut and the upper and lower stringers of the roof-supporting member in closely spaced relation to the outer stringer of said leg member, whereby to restrict rocking movements of said roof-supporting member about said fulcrum.

2. A prefabricated building arch comprising:

(a) a gable member,

(b) detachable leg members securable to opposite ends of said gable member,

(c) each of said members being formed of multi-ply construction and including skeletonized frame elements and laterally spaced plate-like cover elements,

(d) the frame of said gable member including vertically spaced side-forming upper and lower stringers and longitudinally spaced interconnecting struts,

(e) the skeletonized frames of said leg members comprising laterally spaced inner and outer generally upstanding side-forming stringers, and vertically spaced interconnecting struts,

(f) the inner and outer stringers of each of said leg members projecting upwardly from the upper limits of their respective cover elements to define exposed leg elements,

(g) opposite end portions of the lower stringer of said gable member each being formed to define a pair of downwardly opening passages for the snug reception of the exposed leg elements of one of said leg members,

(h) the axial dimension of said leg stringers being such that when they are in operative abutting relationship with the undersurface of the upper stringer of said gable member the upper edge of the cover elements of said leg members are in abutting engagement with the undersurface of the adjacent cover elements of said gable member, and

(i) means for clamping said leg members to said gable her in said operative relationship.

3. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the uppermost strut of each of said leg members closely underlies the adjacent opposite end portion of the lower stringer of said gable member intermediate said passages, and in which said clamping means includes drawbolts passing upwardly through said uppermost struts and the upper and lower stringers of said gable member in closely spaced relation to the outer stringers of said leg members.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 in which the shank portions of said drawbolts are offset adjacent their headequipped lower ends and pass through their respective uppermost struts in a manner to prevent accidental downward movement.

5. The structure defined in claim 4 in which the opposite ends of the lower stringer of said gable member are provided with vertically extended axially outwardly opening channels for the reception of the intermediate portion of the shank of its respective drawbolt.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,347,879 5/1944 Brunton 52-90 2,390,180 12/1945 Sahlberg 52.93 2,607,959 8/1952 Brosenius 52-90 3,039,152 6/1962 Hillesheim 52-642 3,191,238 6/1965 Olson 20-92 FOREIGN PATENTS 959,642 1949 France. 714,553 1942 Germany.

89 1913 Great Britain.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. R. A. STENZEL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A PREFABRICATED BUILDING SUPPORT COMPRISING: (A) A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING ROOF-SUPPORTING MEMBER, (B) A LEG MEMBER DETACHABLY SECURABLE TO ONE END OF SAID ROOF-SUPPORTING MEMBER, (C) EACH OF SAID MEMBERS BEING FORMED OF MULTI-PLY CONSTRUCTION AND INCLUDING SKELETIONIZED FRAME ELEMENTS AND LATERALLY SPACED PLATE-LIKE COVER ELEMENTS, (D) THE FRAME ELEMENT OF SAID ROOF-SUPPORTING MEMBER INCLUDING VERTICALLY SPACED SIDE-FORMING UPPER AND LOWER STRINGERS AND LONGITUDINALLY SPACED INTERCONNECTING STRUTS, (E) THE SKELETONIZED FRAME OF SAID LEG MEMBER COMPRISING LATERALLY SPACED INNER AND OUTER GENERALLY UPSTANDING SIDE-FORMING STRINGERS, AND VERTICALLY SPACED INTERCONNECTING STRUTS, (F) THE OUTER STRINGER OF SAID LEG MEMBER PROJECTING UPWARDLY FROM THE UPPER LIMITS OF SAID LEG MEMBER COVER ELEMENTS TO DEFINE AN EXPOSED LEG ELEMENT, (G) THE EXTREME OUTER END OF THE LOWER STRINGER OF SAID ROOF-SUPPORTING MEMBER TERMINATING IN INWARDLY SPACED RELATION TO THE OUTER LIMITS OF SAID ROOF-SUPPORTING COVER ELEMENTS AND DEFINING A DOWNWARDLY AND LATERALLY OUTWARDLY OPENING PASSAGE FOR RECEPTION OF SAID EXPOSED LEG ELEMENT, (H) THE UPPER END OF THE INNER STRINGER OF SAID LEG MEMBER ABUTTING THE UNDERSURFACE OF ONE OF THE STRINGERS OF SAID ROOF-SUPPORTING MEMBER AND DEFINING THEREWITH A FULCRUM, (I) THE UPPER END OF SAID EXPOSED LEG ELEMENT ENGAGING THE UNDERSURFACE OF THE UPPER STRINGER OF SAID ROOF-SUPPORTING MEMBER, (J) THE UPPERMOST STRUT OF SAID LEG MEMBER CLOSELY UNDERLYING THE ADJACENT PORTION OF THE LOWER STRINGER OF SAID ROOF-SUPPORTING MEMBER, AND (K) MEANS FOR CLAMPING SAID LEG MEMBER TO SAID ROOFSUPPORTING MEMBER, SAID MEANS INCLUDING (1) A DRAWBOLT PASSING UPWARDLY THROUGH SAID UPPERMOST STRUT AND THE UPPER AND LOWER STRINGERS OF THE ROOF-SUPPORTING MEMBER IN CLOSELY SPACED RELATION TO THE OUTER STRINGER OF SAID LEG MEMBER, WHEREBY TO RESTRICT ROCKING MOVEMENTS OF SAID ROOF-SUPPORTING MEMBER ABOUT SAID FULCRUM. 